CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Today a new paradigm of agricultural development is fast emerging: in both developing and developed countries the overall development of rural areas is expanding in new directions; old ways of delivering important services to citizens are being challenged; and traditional societies are being transformed into knowledge societies all over the world.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is seen as an important means of achieving such a transformation. When used as a broad tool for providing local farming communities with scientific knowledge, ICT heralds the formation of knowledge societies in the rural areas of the developing world. However, this can only be realized when knowledge and information are effectively harvested for overall agricultural and rural development. The development of precision farming in countries of the North emphasizes knowledge-intensity; hence the agricultural paradigm in the developing world will have to be recast to take advantage of knowledge availability to achieve multiple goals: of income, food, jobs, etc. (Swaminathan, 1993). ICT helps the agricultural sector in re-orienting itself towards the overall agricultural development of small production systems. With the appropriate knowledge, small-scale producers can even have a competitive edge over larger operations. When knowledge is harnessed by strong organizations of small producers, strategic planning can be used to provide members with least-cost inputs, better storage facilities, improved transportation links and collective negotiations with buyers.

1.1 Theoretical Background

ICT can give a new impetus to the social organizations and productive activity of agriculture which, if nurtured effectively, could become transformational factors. The ‘knowledge’ itself will become a technology for overall agricultural development. Agricultural extension, in the current scenario of a rapidly changing world, has been recognized as an essential mechanism for delivering knowledge (information) and advice as an input for modern farming (Jones, 1997). However it has to escape from the narrow mindset of transferring technology packages to transferring knowledge or information packages. If this can be achieved, with the help of ICT, extension will become more diversified, more knowledge-intensive, and more demand driven, and thus more effective in meeting farmers’ information needs. ICT has many potential applications in agricultural extension (Zijp, 1994). It can bring new information services to rural areas where farmers, as users, will have much greater control than before over current information channels. Access to such new information sources is a crucial requirement for the sustainable development of the farming systems.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Many farmers lack modern knowledge of how to manage their agricultural activities to maximize yield or production. The ignorance of the existence of information systems that can enable those in the agricultural industry to be more productive exists because only few research studies has been conducted and mainly also the limited level of sensitization about agro ICT concept. Seminars and workshops on how ICT can contribute to agricultural development are hardly organized regularly. Farmers do not have an information software system that can be used to gain knowledge about how to carry out their agricultural work to maximize production. Consequently, the financial capacity of farmers is low while it has the potential to blossom. This situation necessitated this study.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to develop an Automated Information system for farming management with the following objectives:

1. To develop a system that will provide relevant information about different plants and their planting season, soil requirements and suitable weather conditions.
2. To develop a database application that can be used to capture and save agricultural information pertaining to useful plants
3. To develop a system that can be queried to retrieve agricultural information pertaining registered plants.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is that it will provide the ministry of agriculture with a useful system that can be used to manage agricultural information. It will also aid the users to carry out their agricultural practices effectively trough the information provided by the system. The study will also serve as a useful reference material for other researchers seeking for information on the subject.

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study covers Automated Information system for farming management using ministry of agriculture as a case study. It is limited to plants farming.

1.6 Organization of the Research

This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It presents the research methodology used in the development of the system, it analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation, the choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, constraints of the study, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Agriculture: The occupation, business, or science of cultivating the land, producing crops, and raising livestock

Agro-ICT: The use of Information and communication technology to carry out agricultural activities.

Automation: This is the use of technology or computers to control and process data reducing the need for human intervention.

Database: This refers to a large store of related data on a computer that a user can access and modify.